A New Beginning
by RikaHP
Summary: The thoughts of a young ensign as he joins a new crew. This story is AU and features an OC. This is a practice piece for me, so I look forward to any constructive criticism.


I don't own, etc, etc, etc

This is un-betaed and completely raw. That doesn't mean I didn't check for spelling and grammar, just that no one else has double checked it for me. I welcome any advice and constructive criticism if anyone is willing to offer it.

Also this is a small part of a much larger planned piece, so I have lots of information in my head, back-story, etc, that I know about and may be assuming you do too without realizing it. If it doesn't make sense let me know, and let me know where exactly.

A little back-story so you aren't completely confused: The storyline goes AU some time mid to late season 7, pre-that nasty relationship thing with Chakotay and Seven, post-everything else. This is maybe a year after the point where it goes AU. Someone discovered a one-way wormhole from the alpha quadrant to the delta quadrant, so they can send family and supplies to Voyager, which they do, and this story kind of talks about some of that.

A New Beginning

Voyager wasn't what he expected, and it certainly wasn't anything like what most people thought of it as. Rumors had circulated through Starfleet from the moment that the information of their whereabouts had leaked down through the ranks. Not that he was _supposed_ to know much of what it was really like. Only the families and the Starfleet head-honchos were privy to that kind of information. With much of the real information being restricted what most people thought was a product of hearsay and mere guesses.

When they had recruited him for this special mission, the little information that Casey had received was sketchy at best, and he was a smart guy. He wasn't stupid enough not to recognize when someone was trying to use him. Someone higher up obviously intended to exploit him, and they had chosen him based on some of his rash behavior in the past.

What the select group of Admirals and Politicians had not realized was that such behavior had only been his first reaction to the crippling grief that he had suffered after his sister's death. Admiral Clayton and Captain Baker might have been able to fool the self-absorbed ditz Dr. Johnson, and they were certainly able to play on the emotions of the brash and foolish Ensign Watson, but they were not going to manipulate Ensign Casey Rhodes. He was too intelligent and too strong of a person for that. He had let them think he had been fooled because he knew that to do otherwise would likely get him put on another mission. After all, he was useless to them if he wasn't a puppet on a string. Casey also knew that once he was thirty thousand light years away it would be very hard for them to do anything about it, so he only had to play the puppet for a short while.

Of course, even as he played this game against them he questioned his own sanity. He was risking angering a lot of powerful people and traveling thirty thousand light years to satisfy a curiosity. Well, truly, it was more than that. He was doing what he had been doing for the last four years—trying to find a way to lay this ghost to rest.

Four years ago Casey had been angry, desolate, and defeated, and for a while he'd worn those emotions like a cloak enveloping him. His dark demeanor and raging against the world hadn't helped in assuaging the grief, and the painful realization that the anger had been nothing more that an attempt to deny the guilt had only made the situation worse. In his anger the Maquis had been an easy target. Maddy had been dedicated to her cause, and it had taken her life. Feeling self righteous and vengeful towards the Maquis had temporarily stopped him from recognizing the guilt that he hadn't joined her or been there to die with her.

Now he had an opportunity. The only Maquis left alive and free in the whole galaxy were on a ship thirty thousand light years away, and he had been offered a chance to be a part of the crew that relieved them. Casey desperately needed a chance to feel some sort of connection with Maddy again, some way to relieve this guilt at least a little. It seemed that the only good that could be found from his stupid anger was that he had been well known for his position on the Maquis, and that certain higher members of Starfleet thought that they could take advantage of that anger.

The months long journey through the wormhole had managed to do nothing more than annoy him. The USS Titan had been requisitioned for the journey with the knowledge that it would likely be abandoned once they reached their destination in the Delta Quadrant. The ancient lumbering vessel had spent most of its life as a cargo vessel, and though it was sufficient for the needs of the journey and what it was carrying, it was not exactly the most comfortable to travel long distances in, especially since it was cramped and loaded to capacity. Also, of the eight officers awake for the journey he had had the misfortune of spending most of his shifts with Ensign Watson, Lieutenant Haddock, and Dr. Johnson. These three were the three people on the entire ship that he least wanted to spend time with. Time spent with them only helped to reinforce the opinion that Johnson was full of herself, Watson was an idiot, and Haddock was power hungry. He suspected, of course, that his shifts had been scheduled with these three on purpose. Admiral Clayton, Captain Baker, and whoever was calling the shots behind them would want those officers that they had handpicked to be acquainted.

So here he was, thirty thousand light years away and he didn't know what to think. When they reached the rendezvous point with the Voyager crew he hadn't quite expected to find a whole camp set up, and he was certain none of the others had either. The planet that Voyager's Captain had chosen for the rendezvous and refit was a pleasant location. The landing spot happened to be in a region where the days were pleasantly hot, and the nights (as he later found out) were warm and breezy. The crew was spread out in a small village-like layout adjacent to the ship. There were buildings with makeshift signs indicating a sickbay and a mess-hall as well as several well organized work areas. Obviously the Voyager's crew's time there before the Titan had arrived had been well spent. Voyager itself already looked to be in a ready state for large scale maintenance. He knew the Titan carried materials to refit the Voyager twice over. The reports on the physical state of the ship and its systems had been a lot fuller than that of its crew, so he had a much better idea about the work that would be done. He even knew that the manifest of those in stasis on the Titan included engineer's brought along for specific jobs along with several family members of the Voyager's crew. Some of the materials in the Titan's inventory also made it clear that there would be inner renovations as well as systems refits. He had expected that they would be planet-side for quite some time, but if their state of readiness was any indication, that time would be much shorter than he had originally thought.

When they had first landed on the planet they transported aboard Voyager. The plan was for the waking crew to meet the Captain, and for the officer commanding the Titan, Lieutenant Smith, to officially turn over command. After this they would begin the process of waking those in stasis.

Captain Janeway had been there personally to greet them in the transporter room. She was much friendlier and warmer than what he expected from her based on his experience with other starship captains and rumors that he had heard. There stay inside the ship had been very short. The captain gave a brief explanation about how the inside of the ship was not at its best at the moment and that it was much more pleasant outside before they all transported to their camp on the planet. From this point on the circumstances had only gotten stranger. As they traversed their way through the camp to what was obviously a gathering spot, the Captain was informal and friendly, stopping to talk to crew on several occasions, introducing them to their new crew members. When they finally made their way to the center, Casey was very happy to see the reunions of three members from the waking crew who had family on Voyager. Lieutenant Myers, Ensign Fitzpatrick, and Ensign Henley were obviously emotional and overwhelmed from the experience, as were their families. Janeway turned the attention away from these reunions to give them more privacy; she led the remaining crew with her to a place where tables and benches had been set up.

They followed the Captain to a large table where she began to introduce her senior staff. The first officer she introduced was Commander Chakotay. The first officer was nothing and everything like Casey expected a former Maquis to be. Casey had done as much of hid own research as he could without arousing suspicions, and the files on Chakotay were not exactly consistent. Some obviously biased reports gave the impression of a madman, who lacked all honor, dignity or compassion and was bent on revenge against the federation. Other reports, dating back to his time before the Maquis, had given the impression of a calm, intelligent, mild-mannered man. These reports had been much harder to locate, and Casey suspected they were much closer to the truth. When Captain Janeway introduced him, Casey did not miss the outright disregard of Ensign Watson or the more subtle disdain of Lieutenant Haddock. No one reacted particularly to the Vulcan Chief of Security, but when the Chief Helmsman, Lieutenant Paris, was introduced there were some unfriendly looks and an audible gasp of disbelief from Dr. Johnson when the Captain added that he was also a qualified medical doctor who assisted their primary doctor. Casey knew that Lieutenant Paris had been on the crew manifest of Voyager when it had departed, but only as an observer. He also knew of the stories he had heard years ago of an Admiral's son who had been tossed out and turned traitor. He recalled the rumors after Voyager's disappearance of an apparent traitor on board who never should have been trusted. Because Starfleet had been pretty careful since the discovery of Voyager's continued existence about how much information the public was privy to, there was still very little known about the state of things. No one had denied or confirmed what exactly had happened to them nor had they cleared up any of the rumors, including the rumor regarding the traitor. He briefly wondered how the observer on a mission became its Chief Helmsman, but then he remembered that the ships other crewman included the prisoners that the mission had been after in the first place. Voyager's situation was unique, and so was its senior staff.

The next officer Captain Janeway introduced was the half-Klingon Chief Engineer, who was friendly, though preoccupied by the baby in her arms. Then she introduced the young Asian Head of Ops, Lieutenant Kim, and two blonde science officers, Lieutenant Wildman and Ensign Hansen. These names did not seem to register any particular interest with Titan's crew, but the holographic doctor who was introduced next seemed to finally throw the self-important Dr. Johnson off of her high horse. Lastly the friendly, furry, spotted alien introduced himself as the morale officer, and even the stoic Lieutenant Smith looked like he'd just stepped through the looking glass.

Though the Lieutenant might have looked a bit bewildered he did not hesitate to take a seat amongst these crewmen when the Captain indicated that we should do so. It was obvious to Casey that Captain Janeway and her crew might be far from conventional, but they were friendly and welcoming, so Casey and Ensign Adams followed Lieutenant Smith's lead and sat down. The Captain (which he quickly learned was her preferred form of address) seemed to approve and ignored the three who remained standing awkwardly. He had noticed during the introductions the way the Voyager's officers absorbed the reactions of some of the Titan's officer with varying degrees of disapproval. He had a feeling that things were going to come to a head soon. Despite the informal-ness of the situation to that point, the Captain obviously wanted to get on with the first briefing. The three who had earlier disappeared with their families now reappeared and quickly sat down with them. The Captain addressed them:

"First of all, I want to welcome you to Voyager, especially those of you without family here. You'll find that Voyager is like a big family, and I hope it won't be long before you feel like a part of it. I understand it will take some getting used to being so far from home, but I am confident that if you give us a chance you can fit in here just as well as the rest of us.

"I do however want to make some things clear. This is a Starfleet crew. We don't always have the luxury to split hairs on rules, but we do follow them. My senior staff are your commanding officers. I don't care where they started out; you _will_ give them the respect that you would any superior Starfleet officer." This she said pointedly looking at the three officers who had finally slunk into seats.

"That said I also want you to understand that in many things we are more relaxed than some starships. We are on the other side of the galaxy, and we don't get opportunities to be off duty, and away from this lifestyle. This isn't just our careers; we must also live our lives aboard this ship. When you are on duty, you will of course follow regulations to the letter, but when you are off duty you are free to make this ship your home as best you can. Also, there are going to be a lot of children aboard this ship, including some very young ones. We aren't as big as a Galaxy class ship, and it is impossible to keep them entirely out of the work area, so get used to seeing them around," she paused and smiled before continuing, "I'm sure you're anxious to get settled in. In a moment someone will show you to the shelters that you will be assigned to for the duration of our stay on the planet. The intention is to stay here for a couple of months, so that there is sufficient time to really go over Voyager with a fine tooth comb. You will be happy to know that this little piece of Paradise is well off the beaten track for the Delta quadrant, so we do not anticipate any encounters with other species. You should enjoy our planet-side stay while you can, we don't get to do this often." She was interrupted by an approaching junior officer. Commander Chakotay went over to speak with her, then returned and conversed in low tones with the Captain. She then turned back to the whole group.

"Doctor, Lieutenant Paris, I believe we are ready begin bringing the rest of the crew out of stasis. Those of you with incoming families have been given the week off, so if your family is waiting on you, you are free to go. If everyone does not mind, I would like to speak to the rest of the crew from the Titan in private." The excitement amongst the crew was obvious, after all many of the people in stasis were the families who had been left behind on earth. The Doctor and Lt. Paris stood quickly. Lieutenant Paris kissed the temple of the woman holding the baby before departing towards the Titan. Lieutenant Myers and the Ensigns Fitzpatrick and Henley left with their families. The remaining members of the senior staff left in an orderly fashion, and all of those who had gathered around out of curiosity quickly disbursed. It was not long before Casey and the others were left sitting there alone with the Captain.

"Ensign Adams, I believe you have a friend waiting on you," said the Captain.

Casey looked up and noticed a young brunette woman still waiting. Adams was one of the crew who he did like, despite his cocksure attitude. Adams seemed stunned. In one of the few conversations that Casey had had with him, he'd confessed that one of the reasons that he had accepted this assignment was because he had an old friend aboard Voyager. Casey concluded that this woman was that old friend, but he was almost as surprised as Adams was that the captain was releasing him to see a friend. He recovered quickly though, grinned at the Captain and said, "Yes, Ma'm." He went over, picked her up in a bear hug, spun her around, and then sat her down. She then pulled him off towards one of the pathways. That left Casey there with Lieutenant Smith and three of his least favorite officers.

"I promise you will all get a chance to relax once I've spoken with you. You all happen to be the members of the Titan that I know the least about. Since you all are now members of my crew I would like to get to know you a little better. I also know how much information that the families were privileged to, but reports were less clear on how much Starfleet briefed you on."

"Captain," Lieutenant Smith inquired.

"Yes, Lieutenant?"

"To be honest most of us were given this mission very shortly before we departed. I know that I was not informed very much at all. I'm not even sure what my place aboard Voyager would be."

"Well, if it will make you all feel better I can give you a quick run down of who you will each report to, but as to your place on Voyager that will be entirely up to you. There are many great things about being on Voyager, but as I'm sure you've surmised promotions aren't one of them. There aren't a lot of promotions on Voyager, but on the other hand every member of this crew has a very important place. Many of the crew has recently received their first promotions since we were brought to the Delta quadrant. Moving up fast isn't likely, and honestly it just isn't practical." She smiled in sympathy at this admission, but did not dwell on it and moved on,

"We all work as a cohesive whole to keep this ship running so that we will eventually reach Earth. I know that goal doesn't seem quite as important for you all seeing as how you haven't been gone that long, but for us it has been over seven years. We are likely to be at this for another ten, twenty, maybe even thirty years. My goal is to make it shorter, but the most important part is that we _will_ make it eventually. The relief that you brought this crew makes me eternally grateful, and I'm sure they feel the same way. I think you will find that you can make your place here fairly easy."

The lack of opportunity for advancement did not come as a surprise to Casey. Voyager was a small ship on an extended deep space mission, like the Captain had pointed out, it just wasn't practical. Honestly, moving up the ranks wasn't that important to him anyway. Aside from his personal reasons, this mission would have been an good assignment for him regardless because he'd always liked adventure.

"Alright now, Lieutenant Smith, you and Ensign Rhodes will report to Lieutenant Paris. He is ecstatic about having so many new pilots at his disposal. I imagine Tom will enjoy having someone with your experience Lieutenant Smith to help him out, and of course you will both eventually be put on the roster for command duty on the bridge.

"Lieutenant Haddock and Ensign Watson you will report to our Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Torres. I'm afraid where you are assigned from there is up to her; I'm sure she will let you know as soon as she can.

"Dr. Johnson, I'm not quite sure what to do with you. Not that any ship can have too_ much_ medical personnel, but I've never known Starfleet to overstock a ship when there are so many other positions to be filled elsewhere. We already have two fully qualified medical doctors on board."

Casey had known from the moment he met her that Dr. Johnson truly thought she was coming to Voyager to be their chief medical officer. From her frequent blabbering on the Titan he knew that she had never even considered that Voyager had done just fine for the last seven years on whatever they had used as a fill in. Casey may never have imagined that the fill in was a holographic doctor and a pilot, but considering Voyager's situation, it wasn't all that surprising. They would have had to find some way to compensate for all of the vital personnel they had lost or they never would have made it so far. The Titan's mission was not to be the replacements for that lost personnel, seven years later. The fact that Johnson had never considered this only reinforced his poor opinion of her intelligence, but he never thought she was so stupid that she would address the Captain as she did then.

"You can't be serious Captain."

"Pardon me?" The Captain looked as stunned as Casey was.

"I'm just a little thrown. You actually expect me to believe that you consider a hologram and a lowlife like Paris to be fully qualified doctors?" Now the Captain had been very kind with them to that point. She was congenial even as she had laid out very clear rules, but now he saw that she could also have a much scarier side. Her eyes took on a steely glint, her mouth tightened and her voice hardened.

"I'm sorry Miss Johnson, maybe I did not make myself clear earlier. I expect you to behave in a manner appropriate to any Starfleet officer, and that includes showing respect to superior officers. The two men you speak of are your commanding officers and vital members of my crew. I can assure you that any member of this crew can trust them with their lives, and have. You, however, will have to earn their trust, and an attitude such as your will not help you."

Johnson looked stunned and completely flabbergasted. He was sure that Captain Janeway's declaration was the last thing Johnson had expected to hear. Now the Captain stood, nodded to each of them in turn and said,

"Once everyone has been revived we will have a celebration here. You are welcome to join us. I'll have your superiors get with you soon to let you know about your duties. For now you are dismissed." She had begun to walk away, but then she had turned back to the still stunned woman and added, "And Miss Johnson, You will respect all of the officers on this ship or you will find life aboard Voyager to be unpleasant."

Once the Captain left, Casey looked around at the others. Lieutenant Haddock had looked very unhappy, Ensign Watson had looked uncomfortable, and Dr. Johnson was obviously still reeling. Lieutenant Smith looked at her with a disapproving look.

"Miss Johnson, now that we are on Voyager, I am no longer your captain, but I have to say as your former commanding officer, I am very disappointed in you. We are supposed to represent the qualities that embody Starfleet to a crew who has not had face to face contact with anything familiar in years. You have made us all look ignorant and disrespectful. I certainly hope that the Captain has influenced you to reconsider ever acting in such a way again."

After saying this Lieutenant Smith had stood and left. Casey followed shortly after, but not before he saw Dr. Johnson direct an unpleasant expression at the Lieutenant's retreat.

Casey had begun this mission with the determination not to repeat the mistakes of his past. He never again wanted to allow misinformation and his own personal demons to influence him. He intended to give Voyager and all of its crew a fair chance. In the short time that the Titan had been on the planet, Voyager's crew had continued to surprise him, but they had also impressed him. This ship defied the Starfleet logic of who could be trusted and what made a good officer. Casey was looking forward to his new life.


End file.
